Chocolate
by bestmistakex3
Summary: Draco reflects on his decisions. One-shot.


**Chocolate**

As he sat in the Drawing Room of his childhood home, he couldn't help but reflect. When had things gotten this bad? He was watching his aunt torture this girl. A girl, who until recently was just an insufferable classmate. A girl, who he thought could never serve a purpose in his life except to further his hate. A girl, who he didn't yet know could completely change the course of his entire life.

Her piercing screams served as a reminder of how he had no idea how he had gotten here. No idea where to go from here. No idea what he stood for in this world. All Draco knew was that Hermione Granger should not mean anything to him, yet her screams twisted his heart and made it fall to the deepest pits of his stomach. He began to recall the first time he had truly noticed her.

 _His eyes flicked up as a hush settled over the room._

" _Who is that?" he wondered to himself, spotting a figure in periwinkle. There was no one in this school that looked like_ _ **that**_ _. Especially someone he didn't know. The whispers filled the Great Hall as she descended the stairs and came into better view._

" _Bloody hell. Is that_ _ **Granger**_ _?"_

 _Draco was incredulous. Did he really just think that mudblood of all people looked attractive? The pedantic know-it-all had no right commanding attention from the room with solely her presence as she just had. Draco scoffed as he watched Krum whisk her away._

 _This whole 'tournament' was just another waste of time. Inter-wizard mingling and communication? Oh, for Merlin's sake. Of course, the slick git Harry Potter had somehow found a way to play the hero._

 _Draco pushed these intrusive thoughts about Granger and Co. from his mind and decided to enjoy the Yule Ball_ _. In the years to come, however, he tried to forget that his eyes were constantly scanning the room in search for those periwinkle dress robes for the remainder of his evening._

At this point, the Yule Ball seemed like it had been lifetimes ago. Everything was so simple then. Hogwarts was his playground; he ruled the hallways and his biggest worry was completing his Transfiguration homework on time. But looking back now, life like that seemed impossible. After the end of that damn tournament, the course of his life had changed dramatically. The Dark Lord had moved into the Manor and set it up as headquarters. The war was brewing.

"Draco!" barked Dolohov, his long and pale face twisting into a smirk. "What's wrong with you, boy? Don't just stand over there, I reckon you'd be of more use over here." Draco flinched as he felt his legs carrying him over to where Dolohov, Bellatrix, and Yaxley were. Granger's writhing body came into view and Draco felt the blood drain from his face.

"Draco, darling," purred Bellatrix, "Why don't you give it a tr –"

"Bella." Narcissa interjected from the entrance of the Drawing Room.

 _Oh thank Merlin._

"Draco is needed in the dungeons. Apparently watching over five people is too trying of a task for Wormtail. Come Draco." Draco quietly followed his mother as she turned on her heel and left the room.

As he and Narcissa neared the dungeons, she gingerly whispered,

"Stay down here. Stay out of sight. This will be over soon." Draco nodded.

Continuing the rest of the path down to the dungeons, he heard his mother's words echo in his head. After his sixth year, he had learned that the best way to survive was to blindly follow orders and turn his feelings off, effectively numbing himself to the reality of the situation. He wasn't truly fighting in this war; he was just trying to survive day by day. It was almost as if he had been in a two-year long haze of not thinking, not living, but just being. As another bloodcurdling scream approached his ears, he was plunged into the memories of his sixth year.

 _He watched Katie Bell from afar as she scurried through the snow towards the castle._

" _This is it," he thought, "I'm finally going to be free of this,"_

 _He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as he tried to relax. He was done! The Dark Lord would surely have to forgive his father when he completed his task with success. A task no one thought he could accomplish. A task he did not want to do. But he knew that it was either Dumbledore or his own parents. Although he would never admit it, Draco had much admiration and respect in his heart for Dumbledore. But he also knew his duty to the Dark Lord and more importantly, his duty to his mother. He would never be able to live with himself if something happened to Narcissa on his account. If this is what it took to ensure his family's safety, he would do it with no remorse._

 _Just as this thought appeared in his mind, he heard a scream._

" _ **No."**_

 _He opened his eyes and saw Katie Bell elevated twenty feet in the air, writhing._

" _ **No."**_

 _Besides Katie, Draco spotted a fuzz of brown hair. When she turned, he saw her chocolate eyes burning with anger, fear, and no doubt, curiosity._

" _ **No."**_

Draco snapped out of his reverie as another shrill scream hit his eardrums, feeling almost as if a million shards of glass were piercing him. A scream that was louder and more evidently in pain than any of the others. A scream that he could hear all the way from the dungeons of the Manor. That was all it took.

Draco jumped into action as his two-year haze dissolved on the spot. Feelings of shame, guilt, determination, and most importantly, adrenaline hit him all at once. Bellatrix was torturing Granger in his Drawing Room. Potter and Weasley were in his dungeons. His mother's words began to echo in his head again.

 _This will be over soon._

This war was seconds from being over, and Draco could not let that happen if he wanted a fighting chance for a better life for his family. Something had to be done.

He knew Wormtail was guarding the dungeon and distracting him was an easy enough task. As soon as Draco was in the clear, he shot five binding curses at the gaggle of misfit characters in his dungeon, stopping only long enough to ask Potter where he wanted to go. He seemed to hear the startled answer,

"Shell Cottage."

Draco apparated them to Shell Cottage and returned to the Manor, taking a second to relish in the relief he felt now that Potter and Weasley were safe. Dashing up the stairs, he couldn't help but think that he was going to give Potter a fighting chance, even if it was the last thing that he would do. But Draco also knew that in order for Potter to have that fighting chance, he needed Granger.

Without thinking, Draco burst into the Drawing Room, where the crowd of Death Eaters had grown.

"Draco? I thought your mother said you were needed in the dungeons." Bellatrix stated questioningly. Her lips curled up into a twisted smile. "I know you want to join in on the fun bu –"

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Draco bellowed. He took advantage of the ten second window of astonishment by sprinting in and grabbing Hermione by the wrist. However, the Death Eaters snapped into action as soon as they realized the reality of the situation. Red and green jets of light whizzed past Draco as he apparated them to Shell Cottage. To safety.

Something was wrong.

He felt a sharp pain at his heart. He looked down and saw Bellatrix's thin silver dagger hanging out of his chest. He collapsed and looked up to see startled, chocolate eyes.

Darkness ensued.


End file.
